This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt image brought us Mischa Elman, a famous violinist, playing chess which opened up a variety of theme ideas from chess to games and musicians. Sadly, I have no family photos of chess being played, but we have plenty of musicians! On the left in the photo above is my grandfather, John Rachocki (1914-1984). It’s a rare chance that I get to showcase a photo from my maternal side of the family since we have so few, so I jumped at the opportunity to include this one. Grandpa John, the son of Polish immigrants, stood nearly 6 feet tall, and everyone who’s spoken about him (he died when I was just four years old), has said he was a gentle giant with a quiet demeanor. He served in World War II, worked in the coal mines, and even worked for a while as a nurse and security guard at a local mental hospital in Pennsylvania. A living family member spoke about him recently and said that he played the mandolin brilliantly, but with such large hands, it was a wonder how he managed to play such a delicate instrument so well. I’m not sure who the other two men are, but the hats are certainly interesting for central Pennsylvania. As far as a date, I’d probably say around 1945 or so. It’s really a treasured photo, one of I think only two we have of Grandpa John with his mandolin, and I’m happy to have had the chance to show it off for Sepia Saturday.
I had to go take a look at mandolins online because the only mandolins I’ve ever seen have an elongated shape rather than a round shape, but by golly there are several different types of round-shaped mandolins! Some are apparently a cross between a mandolin & a banjo, but looking closer at your Grandpa John’s instrument in the photo, it was pure mandolin, no cross-between. And what a fun & informative photo to have, too!
The three men were no doubt enjoying playing while being photographed. Good that you’ve provided a musical connection, I was surprised that this week we didn’t hear anything from Mike, our resident blogger on all things musical!
I’m betting my Pennsylvania grandfather would have throughly enjoyed these three fellas. He loved country music which certainly bears no resemblance for what is called country music today.